Gay category names
Glossary of Terms: LGBTQ
Definitions were drafted in collaboration with other U.S.-based LGBTQ community organizations and leaders. See acknowledgements section.
Additional terms and definitions about gender culture and gender expression, transgender people, and nonbinary people are free in the Transgender Glossary.
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*NOTE: Ask people what terms they use to describe their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression before assigning them a label. Outside of acronyms, these terms should only be capitalized when used at the origin of a sentence.
LGBTQ
Acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, gender diverse, and queer. The Q generally stands for queer when LGBTQ organizations, leaders, and media leverage the acronym. In settings offering support for youth, it can also stand for questioning. LGBT and LGBTQ+ are also used, with the + added in recognition of all non-straight, non-cisgender identities. (See Transgender Glossary ) Both are acceptable, as are other versions of thi
The Guysexual’s Guide To Gay Tribes And What They Mean
Kartik is having an existential crisis.
What is it? The inevitability of death? The crushing loneliness of realising all humans inherently are and will die alone? The meaninglessness of his dead-end job? The purpose of life? I’ve clearly thought this through.
Kartik shrugs, it’s worse. He doesn’t grasp what his homosexual tribe is.
What is a gay tribe?
No, a gay tribe is not a group of still-surviving, nomadic queer men. A tribe is, in fact, a social grouping of gay men based solely on their ~body type~ key physical characteristics. Also a feature of Grindr’s profile settings, tribes exist to assist you find men you are attracted to, based on the quantity of hair on their bodies, and muscle on their bulk.
You start off with some pretty self-explanatory stereotypes: Twinks, Femmes, Geeks, Jocks and Daddies. And then in descending arrange of size/hair (yes, hair) and kink, you’ve got Bears, Wolves, Cubs and Otters. Is this marginalising the male lover community or moulding a human zoo?
Kartik thinks that queer men shouldn’t be sorted into t
List of LGBTQ+ terms
A
Abro (sexual and romantic)
A word used to depict people who have a fluid sexual and/or intimate orientation which changes over time, or the course of their life. They may use different terms to describe themselves over time.
Ace
An umbrella term used specifically to describe a lack of, varying, or occasional experiences of sexual attraction. This encompasses asexual people as well as those who identify as demisexual and grey-sexual. Ace people who experience quixotic attraction or occasional sexual attraction might also utilize terms such as male lover, bi, lesbian, straight and queer in conjunction with asexual to describe the direction of their idealistic or sexual attraction.
Ace and aro/ace and aro spectrum
Umbrella terms used to explain the wide group of people who experience a lack of, varying, or occasional experiences of intimate and/or sexual attraction, including a lack of attraction. People who identify under these umbrella terms may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including, but not limited to, asexual, ace,
Types
Some gay men use types to describe, identify and communicate themselves. Who hasn't heard someone say “he’s my type" or been asked if a guy is yours? There is always some disagreement around the terms we exploit and whether we should use them at all.
Therefore, you should be sensitive if applying a type to someone, bearing in mind some gay men reject them altogether as narrow, superficial, and demeaning. Equally, some use types affectionately and as a convenient shorthand.
It's a bit of a bear pit (no pun intended), but here's our take on types, though you are perfectly entitled to hurl them out and be your own gay, your own homo, queer, etc.
Physical types and personal characteristics
Some guys are primarily attracted to physical types of gay men (eg: bears, twinks, and muscle guys) while some find characteristics in men most attractive (eg: warmth, intelligence, and humour). Others mix and match and understanding these distinctions is important.
For example, the type(s) of men we find attractive sexually may not necessarily be the qualities we are looking for to sust